West and Russia square off for fight over empowering chemical weapons body

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Britain, which has condemned Russia over the nerve agent poisoning of an ex-spy, is pushing to give more teeth to the global chemical weapons watchdog so that it can point the finger at those who carry out attacks with banned toxic substances.

The 20-year-old Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which oversees a 1997 treaty banning the use of toxins as weapons, is a technical, scientific body which determines whether chemical weapons were used.

But it does not have the authority to name those responsible for illegal use. Read more